


Learn To Wear Each Other Well

by andachippedcup



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Merlance, Tommy Merlyn is Alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 05:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3755668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andachippedcup/pseuds/andachippedcup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Tommy is alive and has a creative solution for cheering up Laurel after a string of late nights at CNRI start to wear her out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learn To Wear Each Other Well

She's been at CNRI until late – later than she'd intended to be. It had become something of a habit, as of late. Fortunately, Tommy was proving to be an endlessly patient man. Said man had been curled up in their bed, dead asleep by the time she finally slipped beneath the covers at near half past two in the morning. Even dead to the world though, the minute she curled up against him, she felt his body roll towards hers and one of his arms came to drape over her hip tenderly. Smiling in the dark, she snuggled against him and with a happy sigh, she closed her eyes.

Long hours at work were sometimes worth these stolen moments when she came home. A simple, small respite from the stress that was their day-to-day 'norm'.

It was some time later (but not _too_ much later) when a soft pressure in her lower back woke her up as Tommy poked her tentatively and though she didn't open her eyes, she could _hear_ the smile in his voice as he spoke to her in an undertone.

"Breakfast in bed? Maybe some crepes and strawberries? Or waffles?" He asked in a quiet but chipper voice and she groaned softly as she rolled towards him, eyes still closed. It was too early; _much_ too early, for this.

"You don't know how to make crepes, Merlyn." She muttered sleepily and in response, he pressed a warm, soft kiss to her lips.

"Who said I meant breakfast in bed for you?" He teased and at this she opened her eyes and fixed him with a playful scowl as she blinked in the early morning light.

"Charming. Really." 

"I seek to please." He responded back and with a sigh she pushed herself up onto her elbows so she was half sitting up as she looked around blearily for the alarm clock. The red letters emblazoned " _6:48_ " did little to improve her mood. "I went to bed like four hours ago." She grumbled, turning her attention to Tommy.

"Well you're already beautiful, so you didn't need any extra beauty sleep." Tommy quipped brightly and she rolled her eyes at him but smiled nonetheless.

"Liar." She muttered as she sat up fully and collected her hair into a loose ponytail. "Give me fifteen minutes; I'll go work on breakfast. But the next time you wake me up to make _you_ breakfast, you better have a hell of an apology gift lined up." She joked sleepily as she slipped out of bed and turned back to lean over and give him a kiss. He accepted it with a smile before he reclined against the pillows and grinned at her like an idiot, making her blush faintly.

He was entirely too happy for six forty eight in the morning.

"Someone's feeling chipper this morning." She commented as she grabbed her robe off the trunk they kept at the foot of the bed. In answer, she heard the sound of him shift his weight on the mattress and when she glanced back at him she saw he had rolled himself to the foot of the bed and was now looking up at her with a happy but subdued reverence.

"Laurel." Her name rolled off his tongue with a warm familiarity that sent a pleasant warmth rushing through her veins that distantly reminded her of feeling a little buzzed.

"Tommy." She responded back as she eyed him, hands on her hips as she waited for him to pop off with some sarcastic quip like the smartass he was. A handsome smartass, granted, and a sweet one even, but a smartass nonetheless.

"Don't forget the powdered sugar." He grinned at her from the foot of the bed and she could only roll her eyes at him as she padded down the hallway and out to the kitchen. She set about mixing up the batter for crepes and in short order, she had a small stack of them piled on a plate, with strawberries, blueberries, and a drizzle of honey for good measure. She had been about to take the platter of food into the bedroom for him when she remembered his request for powdered sugar.

"So high maintenance." She muttered in a teasing undertone as she went to the kitchen cabinet and grabbed up the red ceramic container she kept the powdered sugar in. Setting it on the counter, she opened the lid and just as she was about to take a scoop with the spoon poised in her hand, she saw it.

Perched inside the emptied and freshly cleaned container was a small, black velvet ring box. With shaking hands, she tilted the contained and let the box tumble to the counter with a soft clatter and she eyed it in disbelief, her mouth agape.

No. This wasn't- it _couldn't_ be.

She reached for the box slowly, as if afraid it would rear up and bite her fingers. It didn't; instead, she took it into her palm and cradled it there for a few moments, literally weighing it in her hand as she figuratively weighed her options.

Her fingers pried the small box open along its seam and when the top slid easily open, she very nearly dropped the whole damn box.

It wasn't a big diamond by a Merlyn's standards; he _had_ been cut off by his father, after all. And while Oliver was paying him a more than generous salary for his work at the club, Tommy's lifestyle and spending habits had been scaled way, _way_ back.

That being said, it was beautiful. A pear shaped sapphire dominated the center of the ring, in a nest of smaller diamonds around the edge. It was in a silver setting with small but intricate detailing on the sides and as she stared at it, she felt her heart stop.

If this was a joke, she was going to throttle him.

Dazed, she walked back into the bedroom, the tray of crepes forgotten as she held the ring box aloft for Tommy to see as she reentered the room.

"Is this a joke?" She asked bluntly, eyes wide and expression confused and guarded as she looked athim, reclining smugly on the pillows of the bed. Grinning at her, he swung his feet over the edge of the bed and rose to walk over to her, gently plucking the ring box from her hand.

"I can see that you're going to need me to spell it out for you, counselor." He murmured, mirth in his voice as he pointedly got down on one knee, the box held up before him. "Dinah Laurel Lance, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" He asked, his smile reaching all the way up into his eyes and chasing away the sadness that had lingered there in recent months. She gaped at him like a fish out of water before she finally managed to bob her head up and down in an enthusiastic, albeit overwhelmed, 'yes'.

Taking her hand in his, Tommy gently eased the ring onto her finger, surveying it with keen eyes as he turned her hand this way and that to check the fit.

"Perfect." He murmured approvingly and she beamed at him.

"Yeah, it is." She grinned through her tears of joy, staring appreciatively at the ring.

"I meant you." He corrected quietly, a shy smile on his face as he stared at her with such tenderness that she couldn't help but melt into his arms, her head pillowed on his chest as his arms wrapped around her.

"I love you, Tommy Merlyn." She whispered softly before she lifted her head to press a kiss to his lips, soft and sweet and fleeting.

"Is that a yes, then?" He asked, smiling against her lips and she let out a laughing exhale.

"Definitely a yes."


End file.
